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Quality of my milk due to my poor diet?

My LO is 12 weeks old and is a great nurser. My supply seems OK and she is gaining well and diaper output is sufficient. She does like to nurse frequently, sometimes every hour to 2 hours, and seems to get fussy a lot.

I am completely fine with nursing her frequently as I enjoy this time with her. However, my concern is that she isn't as happy as she should be.

My diet and eating habits since she was born are terrible and I know that this would affect my milk. I'm not dieting or trying to lose weight, but most days I'm so busy caring for her that I neglect my own needs -- ie., eating enough or eating well.

Any suggestions on improving the quality of my milk? Is it just basic follow the food guide? Also once my diet gets back on track how long will it take for my milk to improve? I'm scared that there's not enough substance to my milk to keep her happy/full for long.

Re: Quality of my milk due to my poor diet?

I can assure you that your milk is 100% nutritious.
Your breastmilk quality is NOT dependent on the nutritional quality of the foods you eat.
in other words, if you choose to eat yodels and drink cola and yohoo your milk would still have every ingredient in the right proportions for your infant.
as long as you are not starving,( and even in starving countries women still breastfeed), your milk quality is fine.
The quality of your milk is perfect.
That's the beauty of the design.
However I am not advocating ignoring your nutritional needs. Moms have to take care of themselves so they don't get sick.

Re: Quality of my milk due to my poor diet?

the quality of your diet isn't an indicator of the quality of your milk.
It's great that you're trying to get back on track with healthy eating but you aren't producing lower quality milk right now. Your own body might be suffering and it is important to eat well and stay healthy - as your daughter gets older you're going to need lots of energy to keep up with her Your daughter is getting the perfect nutrition from your breastmilk. The only foods you should really avoid or have in limited quantities are foods with large amounts of caffeine, alcohol, or foods that your baby may be sensitive to.

And frequent nursing is very common. Every 2-3 hours is typical, with cluster feeding thrown in sometimes as well. It sounds like you're doing a great job nursing on demand and watching diaper output. The fussiness could be caused from a number of things: growth spurts, developmental milestones, teething, etc. Does the fussiness occur all through the day or at a predictable time? Does it seem like she is in pain?

~Jenn~

mother of 2 boys!08/14/98~~03/20/08Birth: 7lbs 12oz, 1 year: 22lbs 11oz until he self-weaned 4 days before his third birthday ... still on occasion ... and happily ************************************************** ************************************************** *****************People need to understand that when they're deciding between breastmilk and formula, they're not deciding between Coke and Pepsi.... They're choosing between a live, pure substance and a dead substance made with the cheapest oils available. ~Chele Marmet

Re: Quality of my milk due to my poor diet?

withthe PPs. Your body will give to the baby first, and protect itself second. One of the most common and frustrating myths about breastfeeding is that you must maintain a perfect or near-perfect diet in order to produce good milk, and that if you have a diet that is anything less than ideal your milk won't be nutritious and the baby will suffer. It's no wonder so many moms out there switch to formula, when faced with the pressure to be perfect all the time!!!

Think about all the women out there today, and throughout history, who have nursed their babies through war and famine and plague. If all it took to create non-nutritious milk was a poor diet, the human race would have gone extinct a long, long time ago.

A lot of moms confuse baby wanting to eat frequently with baby not getting enough to eat. As Jenn pointed out, frequent nursing is textbook normal. Many babies eat every 1-3 hours, or even more frequently, particularly during growth spurts. This is because breastmilk digests quickly, because infant tummies are tiny, and because babies nurse not only for food but also for comfort. And the best way to judge whether or not a baby is getting enough to eat is to observe the baby. A baby who is producing sufficient wet and poopy diapers and is growing appropriately is a baby who is getting enough to eat.

Re: Quality of my milk due to my poor diet?

Well if I cannot eat yodels and drink soda while nursing that's it, I am done!

I am sure what esthervegan meant was it is OK to eat some junk food, ingest some caffeine, and even (gasp) have the occasional *real* drink and still breastfeed. Which is true.

Of course ideally all new mothers (and everyone) should eat as healthy as they possibly can. Fine.

But asking nursing mom to totally abstain from caffeine and junk foods is utterly unnecessary for the health of her breastfed baby. Plus it is illogical. What sense is there in telling a nursing mom she should not eat, for example, anything made with corn syrup or sugar, when the alternative is to directly feed her child corn syrup and sugar (found in many formulas?)

There is good evidence that even babies of mothers who smoke cigarettes are better off, healthwise, nursing, than their counterparts whose mothers smoke and do not nurse. please note i am not advocating that new mothers or anyone else smoke!

Re: Quality of my milk due to my poor diet?

It seems strange, but like the PPs said, there's no real such things as "bad quality" milk. Your milk is made from your blood, so unless you're concerned with the 'quality' of your blood you shouldn't be concerned about the quality of your milk